Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti, a winner on the streets of Long Beach in California last weekend, aims to extend his lead in the IndyCar Championship when he tackles the first oval race of the season in Kansas on Sunday.
The 35-year-old Scot finished second on the ultra-fast 1.5-mile superspeedway two years ago when he won the IndyCar title in 2007. This weekend the Team Ganassi driver aims to go one step better.
“It’s a track I’ve had some success on,” Franchitti, who leads Australian Will power by 15 points in the championship, admitted today, “but it’s probably a bit trickier than a track like Chicago or Texas because it has pretty tight corners. It’s a tough track to race on.
“Winning so dominantly at Long Beach has really given me and everyone in the team a big, big boost and we can’t wait to build on the momentum we’ve already generated. But we know it’s going to be a tough weekend.”
Franchitti will face stiff competition in the 200-lap race from his Ganassi team-mate Scott Dixon. The Kiwi, who won the championship last year, started last year’s Kansas race from pole position. The race was won by England’s Dan Wheldon.
JM